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The English side's preparations for a warm, arid T20 World Cup in India in the coming month brought them on midweek to a cool, drizzly New Zealand's largest city, where they were compelled to conduct the last practice run ahead of their next match against the Kiwis indoors. The purpose isn't always clear what purpose these bilateral series serve, what valuable insights could possibly be learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.

Tom Banton's Changed Position: From Opener to Middle Order

The cricketer says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by athletes who have long since scaled the peak of their game, in his situation it is certainly accurate. After building his name as a top-order batter, mostly as an starting player, Banton now occupies a totally new role, batting at the middle order. “I didn't have too many conversations,” he said. “I just got brought me back into the squad and informed me, ‘You’re going to bat in the lower batting lineup now.’”

Prior to returning in the summer, 87% of Banton’s 162 professional T20 appearances had been as an opener, another 8% at No3 and the remaining handful – but for a brief stint at No 7 in a T20 Blast game eight years ago – at No 4. If England intend to retain him in this altered role he requires every chance to become accustomed to it, and he has already worked out one thing: “Playing down the order,” he surmised, “is a lot harder than starting the innings.”

Mixed Results in the Tour

The player noted that “there’s going to be times where it works well and it looks great and other times where it doesn’t”, and the initial matches of the tour in New Zealand have featured both outcomes. In the first, he faced nine balls and made a low score before holing out to long-on; in the next game, he faced a dozen balls, hit runs, and finished unbeaten.

Thoughts on Return and Growth

This tour has witnessed Banton return to the country in which he made his international debut in November 2019. Since then, he moved away of the team, made a brief return in recently and then spent more than three years in the wilderness before coming back for the new captain's initial match as skipper. “During the journey, it was weird,” he said. “It was six years ago when I made my debut. It feels like a lot has happened in that period. I’ve learned a lot about myself. The period after I was left out from England was a tough time for me. I had a two- to three-year period where I was finding my way.”

Backing from Team Management

And now, he has been given a fresh challenge to tackle. Banton is grateful to have been given another chance, and also for the coach's ability to make him comfortable while he figures out how best to grasp it. “Baz approached me before [the recent game] and said, ‘Head out and express yourself.’ It's reassuring to have that freedom,” Banton said. “I realize it’s only a small thing from the staff, but it provides the backing that if it doesn’t come off, it’s not a disaster. It’s something so small but for me it’s, ‘Alright, I’ve got the approval from the manager and I can step up and do it.’”

Venue Change and Team Selection

Following the initial matches of the series at the South Island ground, a venue with unusually long boundaries, the visitors finish the series on Thursday at the Auckland arena, a dual-purpose rugby and cricket ground where the field edge at 55m is among the most compact in the world. With changeable conditions and an new location they have abandoned their recent habit of announcing their lineup two days in advance while they determine if their preferred team here will be the same as the side that began the earlier fixtures.

Upcoming Changes for ODI Series

On Friday, they travel to Mount Maunganui and turn focus to one-day internationals, with a slightly amended squad: Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley and Phil Salt are omitted, while Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith join the squad. Three of those players landed in the city on Wednesday but the scheduling of Archer’s Test match buildup means he will arrive two days later, travelling with two fellow bowlers, fast bowlers who are also building towards the Tests in Australia but are excluded from the white-ball squad. As a result Archer will miss the first match at the venue, the stadium where he was subjected to abuse on his only previous appearance, in 2019.